Prelude to Out of the Darkness
by TimeLordMaster108
Summary: Short one-Shot written as a prequel for the premier of Season 17, and set during She and Daughters. Ziva returns to Washington in order to evade Sahar only for her to return and reveal her plan to kill Gibbs


**(AN) Hello there. TimeLordMaster108 here with a fun one-shot that will serve as a prelude to the Season 17 premiere.**

**Even though I and other UK fans won't get Season 17 until either December or January, (depends what they decide to show when New Orleans Season 5 wraps up here) I decided to do a prelude to Out of the Darkness which will air tonight in America on CBS in order to hype up the American half of the fanbase.**

**This story partially takes place during She and Daughters. **

**Disclaimer; I don't own NCIS. All characters and locations are owned by CBS and Paramount Pictures.**

* * *

**NCIS: Prelude to Out of the Darkness.**

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The airport in Washington was always busy, even at night. This made it easy for some people to remain hidden which was true in the case of Ziva David, former Mossad officer and former NCIS Field Agent. It had been six years, six long years since she had last stepped foot in Washington. But now she was back, separated from her precious daughter after Trent Kort had destroyed her farmhouse in Israel as an act of revenge.

Ziva blinked back tears as she thought back to that terrible day, hearing Tali's terrified cries and watching as the house burned down.

"Do not worry Tali, you will see me again some day." thought Ziva to herself, believing that Tali was dead.

* * *

Ziva silently made her way outside and made a quick call to a taxi and after a few minutes one arrived, being driven by a middle aged man.

"Where to Ms?" asked the man in a friendly tone as Ziva hopped in.

Ziva told the man and after giving him directions, the driver nodded in agreement.

The taxi sped off and Ziva was left to her thoughts. For nearly the past three years she had stayed hidden in Israel after seeing a news report stating she had died. She'd lived on the streets surviving in any way that she could. The woman couldn't even begin to imagine the grief her friends must've endured. Gibbs, McGee, Abby, Palmer, Ducky, Vance, Fornell, Borrin, Diane, Hollis, Sr, the Daly's, Delilah, Breena and especially Tony.

But then just a few months back, Ziva had been targeted by a mysterious woman named Sahar and her armed mercenaries. Sahar wanted Ziva dead for reasons she could not yet figure out so she'd made the decision to return to Washington and with help from a friend she'd boarded a plane. The problem was though she'd lost all her contacts due to them believing she was dead.

* * *

The taxi arrived just outside the penthouse. Ziva paid the man with some spare cash her friend had given her.

Ziva quietly dashed into the penthouse and within minutes reached her secret office. To Ziva's utter shock and nervousness the door was open and the lights were on. Dashing inside, Ziva saw signs that somebody had been in the office. She glanced at her desk and saw a case file lying open. Walking over to the desk, Ziva flicked through the file and saw that it was for the Morgan Burke cold case.

The former Agent whirled around as she heard footsteps approaching, getting ready for a fight she went into a fighting stance.

"Hay Bishop is that you?" asked Oddette as she walked in.

The landlady then saw Ziva and her eyes widened in shock. Ziva realising what was about to happen quickly tackled the woman and covered her mouth with her hand, muffling the woman's shocked and horrified scream.

"Shhh," hissed Ziva, causing Oddette to stop screaming, "Don't scream Oddette. Now to answer your questions. Yes I am alive. Yes I am really here. And no, nobody else knows that I am alive."

Ziva then let go of Oddette's mouth and the two stood up. Oddette immediately hugged her. "Oh Ziva, it's so good to see you," she cried in happiness, "But how? We all saw the news report. That farmhouse was burnt to the ground. They found remains."

"I was up late that night," explained the former Mossad Officer in a distraught voice, "Tali, my daughter was being a bit fussy. It was then that I heard movement from outside, so I snuck outside and managed to spy the people preparing the mortar attack. I quickly attempted to rush back to the house, b-but I was too late. They struck the house. I was forced to hide. M-my poor little Tali, s-she was so young."

Ziva then broke down into silent sobbing and collapsed into a seat. Oddette quickly hugged her, looking shocked. "Oh Ziva, you've been through a terrible ordeal," said Oddette in a comforting tone, "But Tali isn't dead. You didn't here the news?"

"No," answered Ziva, now calming down, "When I saw the news report that is when I learned that they believed I was dead. I went into hiding fearing Kort may discover the truth."

"Trent Kort was hunted down and killed in a joint effort by NCIS and the FBI. Tony got the most satisfaction from killing him," explained the landlady, "Mossad Officers found Tali safe in her room, it was untouched by the fire. She was brought to Washington and is now in Tony's custody."

"Oh thank goodness," exclaimed Ziva, "Where are Tony and Tali now?"

"Tony resigned from NCIS after killing Kort in order to look after Tali," replied Oddette, "He moved to Paris with her."

"Oh," replied Ziva in realisation, "Well listen Oddette whatever you do, please do not tell anybody else I am alive. I am beginning to suspect that Kort's attack may have had a different motive. I cannot say why, but just trust me okay?"

"Okay." replied Oddette.

"By the way who is this Bishop you were asking about?" questioned Ziva curiously.

"Oh, she's a field Agent who took up your desk space nearly six years ago," informed the landlady, "She found your office after the team took on the Morgan Burke cold case. And you'll be glad to know that Morgan has finally been found and reunited with her daughter."

"Oh that is good," cried Ziva in pride, "People do learn a lot from sitting at that desk. I'll take it Gibbs wasn't too impressed at first. About my office?"

"From what I heard he wasn't," replied Oddette, "He was furious that Bishop wanted to read that letter Morgan's Grandmother wrote. You know, the one she wanted read to Morgan's abductor as her dying wish. But he eventually softened up. The man that abducted Morgan has been captured and is in hospital. His name is Robert Hill and he kidnapped her to use as his... slave... if you get my drift. He abused her and the daughter she gave birth to. Both mother and daughter are fine and healthy."

"Thank you Oddette, got to go." thanked Ziva before suddenly running out of the office.

Oddette then ran after Ziva but upon stepping out into the cool street, she could see nobody.

"I'm going crazy." commented Oddette before fainting.

* * *

Later on Ziva exited the hospital. She had met the scumbag who had tortured Morgan for ten years and read a copy of a letter she had in her office to him. The woman was just making her way towards the nearby bus stop when suddenly she heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked.

"Hello Sahar," greeted Ziva, not needing to turn around, "How did you find me?"

"Oh Ziva, surely you should realise that I figured out you'd head back to Washington D.C., the one place you've truly been able to call home and where your precious Gibbs leads his band of merry Navy Cops." answered a sinister sounding voice with an Israeli accent.

This statement took Ziva completely by surprise. "How do you know about Gibbs?" she asked in shock.

"Oh did I forget to mention, I'm also after Gibbs and you've led me straight to him." informed Sahar in a sinister tone.

Ziva turned around to face her nemesis who was currently pointing a gun at her face.

"If you lay one finger on him," snarled Ziva in a threatening manner, "I will destroy you."

"You will try." snarled the other woman before firing her gun.

Ziva ran between trees and pillars as Sahar fired on her, the bullets pinging off the trees and pillars.

"You can't escape me Ziva," declared Sahar in fury, "I will find you."

* * *

Ziva realising she was in danger snuck back into the penthouse, went into her office and wrote a note for Bishop, asking her to keep her secret in order to keep everyone she knew safe. She trusted Bishop with this because she believed the woman wouldn't put herself in danger if she didn't know her which was exactly what she feared anybody she knew and who cared about her would do.

As she left Ziva spotted a tall, blonde woman heading towards her office. She realised that that must be Bishop.

* * *

Three months later and Ziva had been lying low, now on the streets of Washington, avoiding Sahar and her men whenever she could. She'd even built a secret hideout in the sewers. One evening she was hiding on the street where Gibbs lived when suddenly she heard voices and saw two figures heading in the direction of Gibbs' house.

"Boss we're approaching the target." said one of the men into a phone.

"Good," replied Sahar's voice, "Remember I want him dead."

Ziva's blood turned to ice. She realised that the time was now to reveal herself.

Ziva ducked under walls and trash cans as she made her way up the street, up Gibbs' driveway and entered the front door.

* * *

Ziva smiled as she walked through the front door.

"Right, what now?" called out Gibbs' voice in exasperation as she shut the front door, clearly indicating that he had been speaking to someone.

Ziva entered the familiar living room. and made a beeline for the basement door.

* * *

Ziva rushed in and stood on the top step, looking down at Gibbs. "Hello Gibbs," greeted Ziva, causing the senior Agent to suddenly look up, his usual stoic expression suddenly changing to a look of shock, "No time for plesentries, you're in danger."

The woman quickly dashed down the stairs into Gibbs' workshop where she came to stand in front of the man.

"Well aren't you going to say something?" asked Ziva curiously.

Gibbs just stared at her in complete shock for several moments.

"Zivar." uttered Gibbs in shock.

Ziva simply smiled. It felt good to see a friendly face.

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**(AN) And that's my short little prelude for the Season premier. I hope you all enjoyed, and remember to Read and Review.**

**This prelude consists of my theories and explanations for things I hope get brought up in the episode. But this'll likely end up being non-canon.**

**If you review after watching the episode, please no spoilers.**

**Until the next time, this is TimeLordMaster108 signing out.**


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